Vehicle body upper part structures in which a reinforcing member is provided to a portion connecting a center pillar and a roof side rail are generally known. This type of vehicle body upper part structure is appropriately designed to be capable of ensuring a designated body rigidity and strength against a side impact load. A structure in which a corner gusset is provided between a center pillar inner member and a roof reinforcement (roof side stiffener) is known as such an vehicle body upper part structure (see Patent Literature 1, for example).
The vehicle body upper part structure of Patent Literature 1 includes: a center pillar comprised of a center pillar inner member and a center pillar outer member; a side frame outer member that covers the center pillar inner member and the center pillar outer member; a roof side rail to which an upper part of the center pillar inner member is joined; a roof reinforcement and a roof panel joined to upper ends of the roof side rail, the center pillar inner member, the center pillar outer member, and the side frame outer member; and a roof corner gusset that spans the roof reinforcement and the roof side rail.
However, in the vehicle body upper part structure of Patent Literature 1, a side impact load is born only by the center pillar inner member (center pillar reinforcing member), and the side load impact is therefore concentrated in the corner gusset (roof corner gusset). The corner gusset must therefore be imparted with increased strength and rigidity. Accordingly, the corner gusset must be increased in size, creating a problem in that a space in the passenger compartment is reduced.